Ex-mayor pleads guilty to corruption day after resignation

This in Jan. 28, 2019 photo, Scranton Mayor Bill Courtright departs from a funeral service for a Scranton Police patrolman at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, Pa. Mayor Bill Courtright wrote City Council members to say he was stepping down Monday, July 1, 2019, a day before he’s scheduled to appear in federal court in what prosecutors said is a corruption investigation. (Christopher Dolan/The Times-Tribune via AP)

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — The former mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges he shook down businesses for bribes and campaign contributions throughout his term and a half in office.

Bill Courtright’s plea in federal court to bribery, extortion and conspiracy came less than 24 hours after he resigned as mayor of the city of 78,000.

Courtright, who ignored questions as he left the courthouse, was ordered to surrender his passport and released without bail pending sentencing in November.

He is now the third Democratic mayor in eastern Pennsylvania to be convicted of public corruption in about 16 months, all engaging in similar schemes. The former mayors of Allentown and Reading are already serving their prison sentences.

“I think the citizens of northeastern Pennsylvania could be forgiven for feeling like they’ve been down this road before,” said U.S. Attorney David Freed, adding that the investigation continues. “I think what this shows is we will work as hard as it takes, where we have credible evidence of wrongdoing.”

Federal prosecutors said Courtright, 61, who first took office in 2014, collected tens of thousands of dollars in bribes by pressuring people who needed city permits or contracts. He also got use of a beach property, carpentry at a karate club he owns and landscaping at his home.

Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner that audio and video recordings captured Courtright taking cash payoffs, including a conversation in which a business operator apologized for not attending Courtright’s inauguration.

“I don’t worry about you coming. I worry about the money,” federal prosecutor Michael Consiglio quoted Courtright as saying.

A vendor, Courtright said, “makes a tremendous amount of money off the city” and “has to pay.” He also used a dismissive expletive to describe another vendor who had donated just $250 to a fundraising golf event.

He was accused of directing intermediaries to solicit payments, campaign donations and other property on his behalf. He was ordered to pay $37,000 in restitution.

In one instance, Consiglio told the judge, Courtright told someone how to handle the money: “If they are checks, you can give them to me when you see me,” but if it was cash, they shouldgive it to an intermediary.

Courtright told an associate he was worried that a business president who funneled him cash in exchange for renewing a contract to collect the city’s delinquent tax and trash bills might be working with federal investigators.

“If they say you gave it to me, I’m going to say you never gave me a dime,” Courtright said before putting a wad of cash into his pocket, Consiglio said.

Another case, prosecutors said, involved a developer who needed permits and licenses to do business in Scranton. Projects were halted and went ahead only after the unnamed person “agreed to provide financial support to Courtright,” prosecutors said.

“In some instances, Courtright took adverse official action against persons and entities to cause them to make payments and contributions for the benefit of Courtright,” prosecutors wrote.

When investigators searched his home in January, prosecutors said, they recovered $29,000 in a basement safe, including bills they confirmed had come from people working for the FBI.

The Times-Tribune of Scranton said the city council has 30 days to pick a successor to serve the rest of Courtright’s term, with the council president serving as acting mayor in the interim. If the council does not act, after 30 days a county judge will designate the next mayor.

Courtright’s term as mayor has about 2½ years remaining.

Former Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski and former Reading Mayor Vaughn Spencer were also convicted in the last year and a half of engaging in pay-to-play schemes. Pawlowski was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Spencer to eight.

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